The tragedy of Romeo & Juliet The Greatest love story of all time William Shakespeare Mrs. Ashford Semester 1 English I

The Elements of Drama Aside—A comment or short speech delivered by a character in a play in order to express his or her thoughts and feelings. Traditionally, the aside is directed to the audience and is presumed not to be heard by the other characters. Comic Relief—A technique that is used to interrupt a serious part of a literary work by introducing a humorous character or situation. Dialogue—A conversation between characters that may reveal their traits and advance the action of a narrative. Foil—A type of character that provides contrast to another character. Monologue—A long speech in a play made by one character that, unlike a soliloquy is addressed to another character or characters. Soliloquy—A long speech expressing the thoughts of a character who is alone on stage. Stage Direction—Notes included in a drama to describe how the work is to be performed or staged. Iambic Pentameter—Shakespeare uses this for his upper class—It’s a line of poetry containing ten syllables with five iambs, or five unstressed syllables followed by fived stressed syllables.

Why the heck do we keep reading his works? Shakespeare, as much as some English teachers dislike reading his works just as much as their kids, changed the literary world forever. He wrote and created more than 884,429 words and created more than HALF of those words. He wrote about concepts that were forbidden during that time period including, but not limited to: Bestiality Sexual relations between humans and animals Transgenderism Homosexuality Interracial relationships Witchcraft And despite these forbidden topics, he was favored by the people of England and Queen Elizabeth He is also still read today because despite his complicated Elizabethan writing, his topics and concepts held within his plays and poetry are said to transcend time.

Background on Shakespeare

DECODING THE LINGO (CALLED ELIZABETHAN LANGUAGE) Against: For; in preparation for Happy: Fortunate Alack: Alas (an exclamation of sorrow) Hence: Away; from here An, and: If Hie: Hurry Anon: Soon or at once Hither: Here Aye: Yes Marry: Indeed But: only; except Whence: Where E’ev: Even Wilt: Will E’er: Ever Withal: In addition; notwithstanding Haply: Perhaps Would: Wish

Background Facts During this time, young girls like Juliet were controlled specifically by their fathers. They were expected to marry within their own class. The women’s say so in whom they wanted to marry was only a mention. Many marriages were simply arranged and there was nothing that could be done about it. Love was not known back then, or at least it did not matter. Marriages were arranged in order to promote status and wealth within families.